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Sunday, April 19, 2015

I wrote a post some time back entitled this. I said that all Christians are called to be worldchangers and to witness for Christ.

Well, one of my brothers brought to my attention that not everyone is called to go talk to unsaved people who do not ask about our faith. Paul says, "have a ready answer for when people ask about the hope that is in you". When they ask, not when we see them.

Also, my mom pointed out that our brothers are not unbelievers, brothers are believers. So when the Bible says "when you see your brother overtaken in a fault, confront him", it's talking about your brother, spiritual brothers, those who believe in Jesus and follow Him.

I hope I didn't cause confusion. I was not clear on this point myself. Not everyone is called to actively change the world. All we are all called to do is be good witnesses, through the way we live. "So that men may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven."

I apologize for putting the wrong idea out there. I hope I've cleared it up!

Saturday, April 18, 2015

So, I don't know if you've ever had this problem or been aware of it, but I have seen a lot of neglect in the Christian community.

Let's start with youth groups. Let's actually take a small youth group, with nobody that even acts up, and go there. So, we see the youth leader at the door. "Hey!" he says, "Good to see you this week!" You smile and say hey back. Then he tells you everybody's in the chapel. Cool, let's go see them. We walk in the chapel. There's the girls, Mary, Anna, Katy, Jodi, all in a group. They're talking away. Fun! The girls are talking! Let's go join. "Hey, Anna!" we greet them, very pleasantly with a smile that says, "I'm glad to see you today!" "Hey! I like your shirt." "Thanks, I got it at the thrift store for three dollars." "Really? Awesome!" Anna turns back into the circle without opening to make room for us.

Okay, guess they must be busy right now. Oh! There's John and David and- oh! Daniel came today, too! Let's go say hi! "Hey guys!" "Hey! I didn't see you in church this morning." "No, I couldn't make it. Didn't have a ride." "Oh. Okay. Oh, I know right, John? So true! hahaha" David turns around and closes us out of the circle too. Fine, I guess everybody's busy. Let's go be a wallflower. Maybe after a while somebody will come over to talk.

We really did just go that entire time with nobody talking to us. Seriously. Now, maybe everybody was just busy this week. No. Every Sunday. Every time. Nobody is ever more than polite to us.

Don't believe me that it goes that way? Believe me. Apparently it all depends if you're in their "circles" or not . This is so wrong. Some kids are hungry for friendships and love. There's a reason that the church is described as a family. You know the, "brothers" and all? Do we really just go around all day only be barely polite to our siblings? This is neglecting one another and should not be done. It's hurtful. It makes people feel unloved and not wanted.

We need to remember to encourage, love, and support one another. We need to remember to reach out to those who may not be so popular. We need to love more. Neglect is not right. God takes us, no matter how dweeby, dorky, or funny we are. We should accept each other as He does.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

This is a song by Hillsong United (have I mentioned how much I love them???) and the words are as follows:

Savior I comeQuiet my soul rememberRedemption's hillWhere Your blood was spilledFor my ransomEverything I once held dearI count it all as lost

[Chorus:]Lead me to the crossWhere Your love poured outBring me to my kneesLord I lay me downRid me of myselfI belong to YouLead me, lead me to the cross

You were as ITempted and trialedHumanThe word became fleshBore my sin and deathNow you're risen

Everything I once held dearI count it all as lost

[Chorus]

To your heartTo your heartLead me to your heartLead me to your heart

[Chorus]

I was singing part of it today and suddenly realized something. See the part "Bring me to my knees" in there? A lot of people sing this kind of lyric on Sundays or sing them because they like the song, and don't realize what being brought to their knees truly is. It really is when you're in a helpless place. When you're brought to your knees, there's nothing you can do. You just sit there and want to scream at somebody or punch something because you're so broken, you don't know what to do. You're so hurt you feel like there's nothing to be done. That is being brought to your knees. People sing these lyrics so lightly, and a lot of them, living their easy lives don't know what it actually means. Being brought to your knees is being so devastated that all you can do is say "Jesus!" over and over and over again.

But that is the beauty of trusting and following Christ. When our world does fall apart, He is there to catch us as we begin to fall. He catches us and says, "No. You are more because you are Mine. You're more than this world that's falling apart. I have you. Be still and know that I am God." And when that happens, that is being brought to your knees. That is counting everything you held dear as lost. That is when you learn to lean completely on God. When everything around you gives way. "When all around, my soul gives way, my Anchor holds within the Veil!"

Being brought to our knees hurts, but it helps. There's a saying, "no pain, no gain." If we don't feel the pain of having our world fall apart, then we don't feel the beauty of leaning on Christ. I can say that I have been brought to my knees. I have felt my world falling apart, but I leaned on Christ, and He brought me back up and set me back down and said, "No. You're more than what's around you. You won't give in, because you are in Me." It is beautiful. I know from experience. It hurts, but it's beautiful. God has blessed me so much, and I think I can truly say I have been brought to my knees and praise God I have been stood back up through His mercy and love!

Love is encouraging people. Love is, not seeing someone all the time, but still being close. Love is, not talking all the time, but being quieted and happy just knowing you're there. Love is, not agreeing on everything, but still loving and caring. Love is arguing, (even though we shouldn't because no one is perfect...) but being able to forgive. Love is being there for someone. Love is telling them "it's okay". Love is knowing, even without the person telling you, that they care, that they love you.

Believe me, I know this from experience. I have some awesome friends! :D They put up with my very many quirks ;) Because, believe it or not, I have many quirks about me :D

Well, I hope this helps you see what real love should look like! Forgiveness, support, encouragement, care, forgiveness.

Monday, April 6, 2015

I think the answer for me is "no". Sometimes we get so caught up in praying for our friends/family that we forget to pray for ourselves. I've been doing this a lot lately. And because I have been focusing on trying to help people I know, I've been paying less attention to bettering myself. Which, in case you weren't sure, is a recipe for disaster.

We can't get so busy helping other people that we stop paying attention to our own lives. We are supposed to be fighting the good fight ourselves, not just helping other people too. Doing it ourselves is going to help us to help others better. It's so important that we concentrate on our own spiritual lives as we concentrate on our friends/family's.

I get too caught up trying to help other people. I know I do. I need to remember that when I pray for my friends, I need to pray for myself, too. I need to ask God to help me be more like Him. As a matter of fact, I need to labour in prayer over myself, not just my friends I'm worried about. Because when we let our guard down (remember prayer is a guard) the devil jumps right in there. He wants us to forget. He wants us to focus on things other than our spirits.

Also, when we don't pray for ourselves, we're being unfair to our friends who are praying for us. It puts all the work on their shoulders instead of taking some of it ourselves! That's not balanced, and everything we do should be balanced.

So my point.. we need to remember to pray for ourselves as well as our friends. The only way we can be effective, is to keep our own spiritual lives healthy and active!